Welcome to the Reception
Rainbow Page
Welcome
Hello Reception Friends
It has been fantastic welcoming all our new Reception children.
We are so excited about working with you over the next year.
Grown-ups, on this web-page, we will share the themes and stories we are doing with your children at School. We will also put on some activities which you can do with your children at home.
Please remember that we are always here to support our families. If you need a longer chat with us, please phone School, or mention it to one of the FS Staff.
Take care and talk again soon.
Mrs. Cartwright-Fretwell, Mrs Wilkinson & the FS Team ❤
What is my child learning in the Reception Class and how can I help them at home?
We firmly believe at our School, that teaching your children is a partnership between Home and School.
At School
In our Reception Class, the children learn through planned taught sessions, where they sit and learn in large and small groups. Letters and Sounds, Magic Maths, Small Group Reading and Topic Work are all taught in this way.
We also believe that the children need time to learn through exploring and engaging in activities which interest them. Our daily ‘Busy Time’ provides activities which are planned by the FS Staff and activities which the children have chosen. Deep learning takes place when the children play and explore, they have opportunities for active learning and the activities encourage them to problem solve.
At Home
On our Reception Webpage, we will provide activities which you can do at home.
We have provided an overview of the areas of learning and we will also put on work linked to our half termly topics.
At home, life can be very busy, but by finding just a little bit of time to share these fun activities, we are working together to support your child’s development and learning.
Autumn Term
The FS Staff will plan work for your children, based on the themes shown below.
The themes for the first Half Term were Ourselves and Our Senses
We have taught the children to:
Name and point to the main areas of their bodies: head, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, cheeks, neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, hands, fingers, legs, knees, feet and ankles
We have also taught the children about the five senses:
Sight
Smell & Taste
Hearing
Touch
Stories
We have enjoyed the story Peace at Last and have spoken about the sounds Mr Bear heard in the night, when he could not get to sleep. Can you remember them? Listen to the story again together.
Little Red Riding Hood
When Little Red Riding Hood arrives at Grandma’s house, she notices that Grandma doesn’t look her usual self! Help your child to join in with Little Red Riding Hood as she talks to the Wolf, dressed as Grandma! ‘Oh Grandma, what big ears you have!’
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
These are the ‘Golden Rules’ we have taught our children:
Kind hands for sharing (friends)
Walking feet (inside)
Quiet voices (inside)
Listening ears
Communication and Language
Over the next few weeks as we introduce the new themes and stories, it will really help your child, if you encourage them to talk about the topics and re-tell the stories using their own words.
Developing children’s vocabulary and helping them have the confidence to put their thoughts into words, is so important for Reception children.
Sharing songs together is great, because the children have fun and songs are fantastic for developing language!
The BBC have created a site which has great songs, which your children can sing along to! Click on the link below
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-songs-index/zhwdgwx
Mrs Walton’s top tips
Hi, My name is Mrs Walton and I am one of the Speech and Language Teaching Assistants here at Abbey Hill. You may have seen me working throughout the Foundation Stage Unit. I specialise in supporting children with language and communnication difficulties, 1-1 or in a small group.
Working closely with Speech and Language Therapists, I have been fortunate to develop my skills over the years and I am now in a position to offer training to teaching staff to further help support children’s communication and language development.
If you need any advice or just a general chat regarding your child’s language and communication development, talk to a member of the FS Staff and they will let me know 😊.
Talking together
No matter how old I am one of the best ways to help my speech and language development is to have some quiet time with me so we can talk, look at books together or sing nursery rhymes. It is always best to make sure the T.V is switched off and there is little background noise.
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- I love singing nursery rhymes; this helps support my language development
- I love playing make-believe games and enjoy it the most when you join in too. Make a pretend cup of tea with me or help make dolly better.
- Now my language is developing, it’s ok if I stumble or make mistakes in my talking – sometimes I’m finding the right words to say. Give me lots of time to talk and try not to draw attention to my mistakes.
- When I am playing, try to extend my sentences so I can hear different words e.g I say “The man is in the car” you say “The man is driving the big red car”
- I enjoy playing games now and playing board games with me helps me to concentrate and learn how to take turns. Games like ‘Simon Says’ or ‘Musical Statues’ will help to develop my attention and listening skills.
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I enjoy sharing books with you – especially ones with rhymes. When you have told me a story, ask me if I can tell it back to you. This helps my language development and my understanding.
Challenge!
We challenge you to put on your woolly jumpers and your wellies to go and find all things autumnal! Create a poster or a display of your favourite finds. This is a great way to get talking and learn new vocabulary!
You may find Conkers, Pumpkins, Crunchy leaves and Pinecones. You may also notice new sounds such as a squirrel rustling in the trees, a trickling of water or the whistling of the wind. See what you can discover this Autumn. Have fun!!!
Physical Development
Physical exercise is so important for our children. Just like you, we want our children to be fit and healthy.
Every day we plan for activities in our outdoor classroom to develop their gross and fine motor skills.
These are some activities your children can do at home for extra fun!
Paint with water. Your child will love painting a fence, using a bucket filled with water and a large painting brush.
Blow some bubbles and watch them run! Children love chasing after bubbles and popping them and it also tires them out!
Make an assault course. Pretend to be a Pirate stepping over shark infested water and walking the plank. Children are so good at using their imaginations!
Washing our hands
For all of us, washing our hands regularly has become so important. At School we teach the children to wash their hands for 20 seconds by helping them count to 20, or by singing a favourite Nursery Rhyme e.g. ‘Twinkle. Twinkle, Little Star.
The song below, also teaches the children the importance of washing their hands and how to do it. Click on the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDHJW4r3elE
In Reception, we also start teaching our children about food. They learn about eating fruit and vegetables, which help us grow big and strong. We also learn about the food which we can eat, but should eat a smaller amount of e.g. chocolate, sweets, crisps and biscuits.
The songs below are great for sharing with the children.
Literacy
Writing
It is really important that we help our children to hold their pencil correctly in the tripod grip, which we call ‘birdy fingers’ at School. Many children find it difficult to hold a pencil like this and so it is important grown-ups that we work together and help our children.
Supporting our children to write their name
Over the next few weeks, we are concentrating on helping our children to form the letters of their name.
We always teach the children to write a capital letter at the beginning of their name and then write small letters after:
Julie
We are also supporting the children to learn to write all the letters of the alphabet, linked to our Letters and Sounds lessons.
The children have the opportunity to write on large paper with felt tip pens, crayons and colour pencils, whiteboards with whiteboard pens and outside on the floor with chalks.
It is also important that our children have fun with writing patterns, as this helps with their letter formation.
Literacy
Reading
Helping our children to read
Learning to read is not easy and that is why it is so important for us to work together to teach our children.
Important!
On the menu bar on our School website, one of the sections is Reading and Phonics. Click on this link to see our Top Tips for Reading at Home with Younger children.
What will my child bring home in Reception?
- Every Friday your child will bring home a reading book, which must be returned every Monday
- The Letter Sounds we are teaching your children will be sent home for you to practice. We use the Jolly phonics actions and songs, to help the children remember the sounds.
- Some words cannot be sounded out. We teach the children that these are ‘Tricky words’. The children are learning the Phase 2 tricky words, before learning Phase 3.
Phonics Websites
Teach your Monster to Read
https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
Have a look at these websites!
Grown-ups, here are some good websites to support your child’s learning 😊
http://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/early-years/
Topmarks.co.uk – Early Years
Crickweb.co.uk – Early Years
Number Blocks
http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/
Alphablocks
www.phonicsplay.co.uk/